THE MISSEL-THRUSH 
TURDUS VISCIVORUS 
LocaL names in surrounding counties; ‘“* Mavis,”’ 
shared in common with the Song Thrush. 
Status IN British Avirauna: A widely distributed 
resident in all wooded districts, and one that has greatly 
increased its range during the past century. Its numbers 
are increased in autumn by migratory individuals. 
RapraL DisrrRiBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s: ‘The gratifying improvement of late years in the 
protection of birds within the London area, resulting so 
beneficially to many species, seems not to have affected 
the Missel-'Thrush so much as other songsters that could be 
named. ‘The fact is that the Missel-Thrush is not only very 
shy, but very wild. He is a countryman of pronounced 
type, not to be seduced by the many attractions of city life, 
and it is only in winter that he enters the inner circles 
of the Metropolitan area, driven thereto by need. In 
the outer suburbs, however, the bird is much more gene- 
rally distributed, breeding in many localities and paying 
fleeting visits to others with tolerable regularity. I have 
heard its wild song in Regent’s Park, in Kensington 
Gardens, and in Battersea Park, but have no proof that it 
breeds there, although said todoso. I know that it nests, 
however, in the Wimbledon and Richmond districts, 
and at Osterley, Twyford, Harlesden, Wembley, iol 
Hill, Hampstead, Epping, and Wansteue: As we leave 
the more central districts it becomes commoner, and 
in surrounding areas, well within the fifteen-mile radians, 
it is a widely dispersed and well-known resident. 
The Missel-'Thrush is not only the largest, but by far the 
wariest of the British Thrushes. It delights to frequent 
the tallest trees rather than the shrubs and underwood 
so dear to the Song ‘Thrush, and when disturbed whilst 
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